Taken from the Noble History of The Terran Directorate:
“The Terran Directorate had spent centuries peacefully coexisting in their own little corner of the galaxy. Though their empire was small, they were a self sufficient race that was content to keep to their own. Some small exploration once in a while brought about expansion and new blood to the Directorate, but beyond their borders something was stirring that would change history forever…”
Eclipse, designed by Touko Tahkokallio and first released back in 2011, is an epic game of intergalactic exploration that – over the course of a few hours – will see the growth and downfall of various alien cultures that vie for domination of space. We’d normally call this a 4X game, meaning that it’s concerned with four different elements that come together in order to create a sprawling beast that covers many gaming bases.
As you play, you’ll Explore the deepest regions of space, slowly Expanding your empire while exploiting the various resources that you discover. Should anything get in your way, you’ll need to Exterminate them in order to maintain control. This style of game has been around for decades, both on tabletops around the world as well as in video games, and Eclipse is one of the finest examples you’ll get to experience.
Each player has a tableau in front of them displaying a wealth of information. The various starships that you have developed sit at the top, while three tracks representing your monetary, material and scientific income sit below. Underneath that is an influence track filled with discs that, one by one, will be removed every time you choose an action. Beginning with a single sector of space under your control, you’re give the option of choosing one of six different actions each time play comes round to you.
Exploring adds hexes to the board, hopefully revealing planets that you can take over and populate. Influence allows for the placing of those discs from the track; very useful should you come across a hex that has no-one in control. Research works in partnership with Upgrade as you develop new technologies and install them on your ships. Of course, you’ll need to get those ships made, so there’s also a Build action. Finally, Move will see them soar through the cosmos, attacking enemies or defending your territory.
“The Terrans, frankly, grew soft. As they had no need for assistance from any other race, they neglected to invest more than necessary into their military. And so, as time progressed and strange and interesting aliens sought to expand their borders, The Directorate was seen as an easy target. Worlds that had long been part of the empire soon fell to the rule of another set of leaders, and it was quickly decided that enough was enough…”
You’re allowed to take as many actions as you like in Eclipse, but it comes at a (literal) cost. Each disc moved to the action bar or placed on a hex adds to the cost that you’ll need to pay at the end of the round. Balancing the books can prove to be one of the trickiest elements of the game, but through decent management you should be able to maintain a good mix of enhancing your fleet, expanding into new areas and keeping your borders defended. However, over the course of the nine rounds that make up the game, you and your fellow players are quickly going to run out of room to move.
Of course, you’ll still want to expand, but now the only way to do so is to go to war. Moving your vessels into an opponents’ area is seen as an act of aggression and – once everyone has passed – play moves onto the Combat phase. This is swift and nasty, a dice-driven affair where fistfuls of d6s can end up being thrown. Modifications to your ships can add extra, more powerful dice as well as technology that improves your chances of hitting the enemy as well as keep your fleet safe. Should things not be going your way you could get the chance to retreat, but most of the time battles descend into a Last Ship Standing slugfest with the victor seizing control of the area.
“Terran military strength was mediocre at best, so it was no surprise when one of their finest generals developed a plan based around guerrilla tactics. Essentially suicide missions, speedy Interceptor class ships were outfitted with Ion Missiles. Their task was simple: engage the enemy, whatever size they may be, then fire everything that was on board in an all-or-nothing blaze of hope. They were not expected to come back alive. Not one single pilot ever survived a mission.”
Once the nine rounds are done, points are tallied to see who is victorious. These come from a range of sources; the sectors of space that you control, battles that you have been involved in, technologies that you have developed and various bonuses, all come together at the end. And yet having played Eclipse I feel that this part, the finding out who won, really doesn’t matter – for me, it was all about the experience of the game. Those hours spent at the table as the six of us told our stories, slowly eking our part of space then building up to this almighty tussle as the game drew to an end.
It’s a wonderfully put together game with solid rules and a beautiful production. But really, the pleasure is in how Eclipse actually works, how it all comes together to tell these tales of stellar expansion and extinction. Sure, there can be a bit of downtime, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got six people struggling to keep their empires afloat, but it’s a price worth paying. If you have a hankering for something a bit meatier than normal and aren’t afraid of a game that gives you more options than you can shake a photon shield at, Eclipse should be on your table.
“When all was said and done, when the wars were over, the Terran Directorate was changed for all time. Their home worlds overrun by a faceless enemy, their only option was to retreat and regroup on smaller outlying planets. What had been a peaceful race concerned only with its own people was now forever scarred. Should the need arise, they would know in future that they would have to develop those aggressive technologies a lot earlier, not be afraid to go on the offensive, and – most of all – make sure their ships had some decent bloody hulls…”
This review was written by EN World reviewer Michael Fox, host of the Little Metal Dog podcast.
“The Terran Directorate had spent centuries peacefully coexisting in their own little corner of the galaxy. Though their empire was small, they were a self sufficient race that was content to keep to their own. Some small exploration once in a while brought about expansion and new blood to the Directorate, but beyond their borders something was stirring that would change history forever…”
Eclipse, designed by Touko Tahkokallio and first released back in 2011, is an epic game of intergalactic exploration that – over the course of a few hours – will see the growth and downfall of various alien cultures that vie for domination of space. We’d normally call this a 4X game, meaning that it’s concerned with four different elements that come together in order to create a sprawling beast that covers many gaming bases. As you play, you’ll Explore the deepest regions of space, slowly Expanding your empire while exploiting the various resources that you discover. Should anything get in your way, you’ll need to Exterminate them in order to maintain control. This style of game has been around for decades, both on tabletops around the world as well as in video games, and Eclipse is one of the finest examples you’ll get to experience.
Each player has a tableau in front of them displaying a wealth of information. The various starships that you have developed sit at the top, while three tracks representing your monetary, material and scientific income sit below. Underneath that is an influence track filled with discs that, one by one, will be removed every time you choose an action. Beginning with a single sector of space under your control, you’re give the option of choosing one of six different actions each time play comes round to you.
Exploring adds hexes to the board, hopefully revealing planets that you can take over and populate. Influence allows for the placing of those discs from the track; very useful should you come across a hex that has no-one in control. Research works in partnership with Upgrade as you develop new technologies and install them on your ships. Of course, you’ll need to get those ships made, so there’s also a Build action. Finally, Move will see them soar through the cosmos, attacking enemies or defending your territory.
“The Terrans, frankly, grew soft. As they had no need for assistance from any other race, they neglected to invest more than necessary into their military. And so, as time progressed and strange and interesting aliens sought to expand their borders, The Directorate was seen as an easy target. Worlds that had long been part of the empire soon fell to the rule of another set of leaders, and it was quickly decided that enough was enough…”
You’re allowed to take as many actions as you like in Eclipse, but it comes at a (literal) cost. Each disc moved to the action bar or placed on a hex adds to the cost that you’ll need to pay at the end of the round. Balancing the books can prove to be one of the trickiest elements of the game, but through decent management you should be able to maintain a good mix of enhancing your fleet, expanding into new areas and keeping your borders defended. However, over the course of the nine rounds that make up the game, you and your fellow players are quickly going to run out of room to move.
Of course, you’ll still want to expand, but now the only way to do so is to go to war. Moving your vessels into an opponents’ area is seen as an act of aggression and – once everyone has passed – play moves onto the Combat phase. This is swift and nasty, a dice-driven affair where fistfuls of d6s can end up being thrown. Modifications to your ships can add extra, more powerful dice as well as technology that improves your chances of hitting the enemy as well as keep your fleet safe. Should things not be going your way you could get the chance to retreat, but most of the time battles descend into a Last Ship Standing slugfest with the victor seizing control of the area.
“Terran military strength was mediocre at best, so it was no surprise when one of their finest generals developed a plan based around guerrilla tactics. Essentially suicide missions, speedy Interceptor class ships were outfitted with Ion Missiles. Their task was simple: engage the enemy, whatever size they may be, then fire everything that was on board in an all-or-nothing blaze of hope. They were not expected to come back alive. Not one single pilot ever survived a mission.”
Once the nine rounds are done, points are tallied to see who is victorious. These come from a range of sources; the sectors of space that you control, battles that you have been involved in, technologies that you have developed and various bonuses, all come together at the end. And yet having played Eclipse I feel that this part, the finding out who won, really doesn’t matter – for me, it was all about the experience of the game. Those hours spent at the table as the six of us told our stories, slowly eking our part of space then building up to this almighty tussle as the game drew to an end.
It’s a wonderfully put together game with solid rules and a beautiful production. But really, the pleasure is in how Eclipse actually works, how it all comes together to tell these tales of stellar expansion and extinction. Sure, there can be a bit of downtime, but that’s to be expected when you’ve got six people struggling to keep their empires afloat, but it’s a price worth paying. If you have a hankering for something a bit meatier than normal and aren’t afraid of a game that gives you more options than you can shake a photon shield at, Eclipse should be on your table.
“When all was said and done, when the wars were over, the Terran Directorate was changed for all time. Their home worlds overrun by a faceless enemy, their only option was to retreat and regroup on smaller outlying planets. What had been a peaceful race concerned only with its own people was now forever scarred. Should the need arise, they would know in future that they would have to develop those aggressive technologies a lot earlier, not be afraid to go on the offensive, and – most of all – make sure their ships had some decent bloody hulls…”
This review was written by EN World reviewer Michael Fox, host of the Little Metal Dog podcast.
